In the wide spectrum of angry rock, Gyroscope have always been on the more listener-friendly end, screaming lyrics backed up by power riffs that were easy to dance to. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that, and Gyroscope’s reputation for superb live shows was strengthened by excellent performances on this year’s Big Day Out tour. Their new album, Breed Obsession, debuted at number one in the ARIA charts, a well-deserved reward for this hardworking group.

FasterLouder spoke to endlessly enthusiastic drummer Rob Nassif about the reception the new album has received, and what kind of people tend to like Gyroscope.

Breed Obsession marks some new territory for the group, with some piano-based numbers, as opposed to the usual guitar-driven songs, and Nassif says that it’s always exciting to do something different. “That’s what makes this our most adventurous album yet. We’ve done things like Climb, which uses piano, and [first single] Snakeskin, where the crux of the song was written on the piano. We’re always looking for different avenues.

“It can be a fine balance, keeping the long-time fans happy, but also finding ways to spark new interest from people who might not have heard you before. And I think we’ve done that really well on this album, and the reception has been really positive. We’ve certainly sold more than previous albums.”

Breed Obsession was recorded in Liverpool with producer Dave Eringa (Idlewild), but Nassif says that most of the songs were written before going over, so the English atmosphere will need to wait until next album to really have an effect. “It was just fantastic. There’s so much musical history in Liverpool, and we had a great time over there. But we really worked out these songs before we went over – after all, we spent eight months writing.”

“I think the biggest influence is not at the time, it comes more afterwards. We recorded Are You Involved in L.A., and the biggest effect is when you come home, and you take all those memories, and good times, and new ideas, and put them into the next batch of songs.” So we’ll have to wait until the next album to see if the dour English weather puts a dampener on Gyroscope – although that doesn’t seem too likely, even if they did get doused in the rain.

“At one stage, we were having trouble getting a live track down for one of the songs. So Dave [Eringa] said, ‘Right, let’s go for a walk.’ So we headed out, in the pissing down rain, and we got absolutely saturated, and had a laugh, then came back to the nice warm studio. And the next take was the one that worked.”

Eringa seemed to Nassif to be a perfect fit for the group. “He has such a great attitude – he was really positive, and had a great sense of humour, and lots of excitement for the project. If anyone was having trouble, he was really supportive, and helped us work out what was happening.”

Right from their first release, Gyroscope have been on Warner Music, but Nassif reports there were no qualms about signing to a major record label instead of a smaller independent. “Sure, we heard these horror stories, and no doubt lots of bands get fucked over by major labels – we’ve just never had any problems ourselves. It’s all we know, and we’ve been really lucky, but it’s also about the people we surrounded ourselves with.

“It’s always been a bigger picture for Gyroscope – it’s about band development. And we’ve always been of the approach that you take as much experience as you can, to become better musicians. You play as much as you can, see the world as much as you can, do as much as you can. Then you feed that into the songs, and hopefully, that makes for better songs. Luckily, in our case, I think it’s really worked.”

And what is Nassif’s favourite thing about playing live, which the band seem to do non-stop? “It’s when you really connect with the crowd. You rock out harder, and then so do they, and they sing along, and highlight your movements, and you feed off each other. It’s great to have the album out, because now people will know the songs. For the last few shows, people didn’t know the songs, but now they should be able to sing along and go with us.”

“I think if people are passionate about music, not because of style, or image, or all that bullshit, they’re the kind of people who like Gyroscope. They just sing along and enjoy it, loving us for all the right reasons, and we love it too. It’s the same reason we play music in the first place, and we’re lucky, because for us the link to the fans is really strong.”

And what’s next for Gyroscope? “We’re shooting a new video tonight for Australia, so that’ll be the next single, and go to radio in May. After that, and the Breed Obsession tour, we play the odd tour here and there. Then in August and September we’re going on a massive tour of Australia. At the moment it’s 38 shows. It’s the biggest tour we’ve ever done.”

But there’ll also be time to start working on the follow up to Breed Obsession. “The big plan for us is to get an album out next year. The more touring you do, the less time you have to write. We’re trying to not have another two and a half year break between albums, so we’re coming up with a schedule which gives us time to write.”

Gyroscope are currently on the Breed Obsession national tour. Some shows are already sold out, so get in quick.

2 May – Bar 388, Brisbane (sold out)
3 May – Groovin In The Moo Festival, Lou Lister Park, Townsville
8 May – Settler’s Tavern, Margaret River
9 May – Prince Of Wales, Bunbury
10 May – Club Capitol, Perth (sold out)
14 May – Governor Hindmarsh, Adelaide (sold out)
16 May – The Metro Theatre, Sydney
17 May – Hi-Fi Bar, Melbourne (18+, sold out)
18 May – Hi-Fi Bar, Melbourne (U-18s)
24 May – Bass In The Grass, Darwin
8 June – Come Together Festival, Sydney
2 August – Splendour In The Grass, Belongil Fields, Byron Bay